Illegal Mining Both Helps and Hurts This Community

In the resource-rich state of Meghalaya, India, the demand for coal is transforming the environment and the people who depend on it. Migrants cross the border from Nepal in search of work in dangerous—and illegal—rat-hole mines. When state officials banned the practice, it shut down the economy. Mine owners and workers alike have staged protests, while people living downstream from the mines are attempting to cope with the polluted river that once provided their livelihoods, food, and drinking water. Hear from those affected by the mining ban in filmmaker Michael Miller's short documentary Broken Landscape: Confronting India’s Water-Energy Choke Point.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of the National Geographic Society.

Illegal Mining Both Helps and Hurts This Community

In the resource-rich state of Meghalaya, India, the demand for coal is transforming the environment and the people who depend on it. Migrants cross the border from Nepal in search of work in dangerous—and illegal—rat-hole mines. When state officials banned the practice, it shut down the economy. Mine owners and workers alike have staged protests, while people living downstream from the mines are attempting to cope with the polluted river that once provided their livelihoods, food, and drinking water. Hear from those affected by the mining ban in filmmaker Michael Miller's short documentary Broken Landscape: Confronting India’s Water-Energy Choke Point.

The Short Film Showcase spotlights exceptional short videos created by filmmakers from around the web and selected by National Geographic editors. We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of the National Geographic Society.